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If coronavirus vaccines are widely implemented, life could return to “normal” by next winter, one of the scientists behind the coronavirus vaccine told British television on Sunday.
Ugur Sahin, Turkish co-founder of the German firm BioN, told the BBC’s The Andrew Marr Show that “this winter will be tough” without any major impacts from vaccines.
Together with US giant Pfizer, BioN is developing the leading candidate in the global search for a vaccine.
“If all goes well, we will start delivering the vaccine late this year or early next year,” Sahin said.
“Our goal is to deliver more than 300 million doses by April next year, which could already have an impact,” he said.
Then the infection rate will drop in the summer, he predicted, adding that high acceptance of the vaccine by the fall is essential.
“I’m sure this will happen,” he said.
Several vaccination companies are working to increase the supply, he said, “so we can have a normal winter next (year).”
Sahin and his wife Ozlem Tureci founded BioNTech in the West German city of Mainz in 2008.
Having identified promising vaccine blueprints, the company formed a partnership in March with US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
The announcement Monday that its vaccine was more than 90 percent effective in trials sparked newsletters around the world and sent to the stock markets and hopes soared.
BioNTech is now worth $ 25.8 billion (€ 21.8 billion), more than Germany’s largest lender, Deutsche Bank.
